CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION AGENCY PROPOSAL LANGUISHES: A proposal for reforming the financial regulatory system is quickly losing momentum in the Senate.

A recent article in The Hill reports that Democrats hoping to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a new agency that would have broad jurisdiction over the creation and enforcement of consumer protection laws, may have to scrap it if any debate is to continue. The article further notes the similarity between the debate over financial regulatory reform and that of health care reform, quoting some as saying that the proposed CFPA is simply a “public option redux.” In other words: a time-consuming point of endless contention.

The creation of the CFPA remains a top priority for the Obama administration, with officials both in Congress and the White House saying that without the presence of such an agency, serious reform cannot be achieved.

OBAMA ESTABLISHES DEBT COMMISSION: President Barack Obama, with the signing of an executive order, established a bipartisan commission Thursday to address the burgeoning national debt and make recommendations on how to balance the federal budget by 2015.

Leading this rather thankless venture are two former Washington players from both ends of the political spectrum. Democrat Erskine B. Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and a former U.S. Senate candidate, and Republican Alan K. Simpson, the outspoken former U.S. Senator from Wyoming, will lead a commission of 10 Democrats and eight Republicans toward finding a solution to an issue of growing importance to the voting public.

Bowles’ career saw a transition from the corporate sector to public service — a time where he acquired considerable finance expertise. His exit from government led him to the University of North Carolina, where he served as president before retiring this year.

Simpson benefited from the same mix of public service and private enterprise throughout his long career. Upon leaving the Senate, Simpson spent 10 years with the Tongour Simpson Group — a lobbying firm that represented a range of clients in fields as diverse as energy technology and urban development.

Bowles and Simpson begin their task with a current national debt of slightly more than $12 trillion, a number that is expected to hit $20 trillion by 2015.

CRP, IN THE NEWS: Executive Director Sheila Krumholz last night joined the Young Turks of Sirius XM Radio for a segment about campaign finance issues. View the video version of the broadcast here … a team of writers at the Contra Costa Times use CRP information about the Seeno family’s federal political campaign contributions in an article about how the family has become crosswise with the law … the Harvard Crimsoncites our data about the campaign contributions of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in an editorial about boycotting Connecticut businesses … Scott Kraus of the (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call quotes us in this piece about potential campaign finance law violations.

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